A lawsuit filed against the town and the Buzzards Bay Coalition over the lease of the Onset Bathhouse was voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs after weeks of negotiation on Thursday, Nov. 29.

With the dismissal of the litigation, the Coalition reconfirmed its plans in an email to the media on Thursday to rehabilitate and expand the Bathhouse as it is permitted. The coalition also vowed to to restore and maintain the adjacent bluff of Bayview Park as open space.

“Nothing has changed about the Bathhouse design and we are moving forward just as planned,” said Buzzards Bay Coalition President Mark Rasmussen. “I want to thank the Town of Wareham for their continued partnership in seeing this project to completion. We have all worked hard to ensure that everything with regard to this project is done thoughtfully and correctly, and the dismissal of this lawsuit reconfirms that.”

The lawsuit, which was filed in Plymouth Superior Court on Oct. 29, alleged the town had illegally leased land on which the bathhouse sits to the Buzzards Bay Coalition, a New Bedford-based nonprofit dedicated to the restoration, protection and sustainable use of the bay. 

Coalition officials were set to tear down the bathhouse after Labor Day this year to build a new $5.3 million, two-story Onset Bay Center. The center will serve as a headquarters for on-the-water programming with the Coalition intended to serve thousands of people each year.

Authorization for a 99-year lease and the spending of $215,000 to renovate the bathhouse were both given at Spring Town Meeting in 2016. A Special Act of the Legislature for the lease and Governor Baker’s approval followed in 2017. The bathhouse, in some form or another, has been a fixture at Onset Beach since the 1800s.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit claimed that land leased by the town to the Coalition included parts of Onset beach, the bluffs and Bay View Park; all of which are treated as pieces of public land they believed to be protected by a court case that dates back more than 100 years.

Known as the decree of 1916, the Supreme Judicial Court decision protects 40 acres of land in Onset across 14 different sites from development. The decree stems from a 1915 court case with the Onset Bay Grove Association that said the "parks, streets, avenues, paths, and shore fronts" in Onset were "dedicated to the public forever". The now-defunct association developed much of Onset in the early 1900s.

According to Selectman Peter Teitelbaum, however, the structure itself is owned by the town with the lands on which it sits still belonging to the Onset Bay Grove Association. A public easement land established by the decree case is still in effect.

The 10 plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit were Lisa Morales, Mark Herring, Ralph Strawn, Laurie Strawn, Nancy Miller, Marie Strawn, Holly Harootunian, Harold Harootunian, Donna Ryan, and Gail Herring.

Earlier this month, Plaintiff Lisa Morales took a stand against the project in person when she discovered a fence being erected around the bathhouse without a posted permit from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

According to Buzzard Bay Coalition Communications Director Alicia Porter, the Coalition had not been served with the lawsuit at the time of the incident and was continuing with its construction schedule as planned. Though not posted, it was confirmed that the Coalition possessed all the necessary documents to install the fence.

By voluntarily dismissing the case “with prejudice”, Morales and the nine other plaintiffs have now officially waived their rights to raise similar claims or appeals against the project in the future.

Philip Schreffler, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said he was disappointed by the characterization of lawsuit by the Coalition and that the all parties had worked hard towards a compromise resulting in the dismissal of the case.

A new document filed with the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds creates two new zones for establishing responsibilities and rights at the bathhouse, including a prohibition on the construction of any additional buildings.

The leased area is now confined to the existing bathhouse footprint with the Coalition responsible for all construction, upkeep landscaping and hardscaping of the new facility.

“It’s a significant modification,” said Schreffler. “And we feel it was a good compromise.”

The Coalition’s selected builder for the project, The Valle Group, has since begun work on the interior of the Bathhouse in preparation for new foundation and utility work in the coming months.